» The bee’s knees: bee culture for bibliophiles The Playful Antiquarian

The bee’s knees: bee culture for bibliophiles

March 26th, 2004

(for my brother on his 10th birthday)I had hoped to post this earlier, but today was much busier than I had expected. I gathered these links months ago (during the summer) for a post that I never published. I had collected them after a conversation with my supervisor about beekeeping, Parisian beekeepers, and my little brother’s fascination with bees.

I am very phobic about bees (and all other types of flying, stinging creatures), but in gathering information for my knowledge-hungry younger brother, I have gained a new appreciation for honeybees. Last summer, I was even caught reading a few books about bee culture and musing about beekeeping as a new hobby. Knowledge can be surprisingly therapeutic sometimes.

Bees in special collections (not comprehensive)

Abuzz about bees
- The E.F. Phillips Beekeeping Library at Cornell University’s Mann Library
Apiculture manuscript collections at the University of California–Davis
- The Biological & Agricultural Sciences Reference Department also has a pathfinder for apiculture research
Moir Rare Book Collection
- Deposited by the Scottish Beekeepers’ Association at the National Library of Scotland
Richard Stannard Baker Bee Collection
- Michigan State University, Special Collections

Bees and information science

Apiary and beekeeping indexers
Gentle art of beekeeping
- Internet Public Library page by Erica of Librarian Avengers
Apiarists and antiquarians?
- According to the MARIAB site, Massachusetts has three dealers specializing in books on bees and beekeeping.

Books about bees (a selection)

Life and times of the honeybee / Charles Micucci
- my little brother’s favorite bee book
Hooray for beekeeping!
- another well-loved children’s bee book
A book of bees: and how to keep them / Sue Hubbel
- the book that almost turned me into a beekeeper
Literary beekeeping
- An Amazon “listmania” list–The Secret Life of Bees and beyond